Melissa Baugh is a Registered Dietician at Intermountain Sanpete Valley Hospital, and says diabetes risk can be prevented or at least delayed.

(PRUnderground) November 28th, 2024

Diabetes is a life-long disease that affects how your body moves sugar into the cells for energy. With diabetes, your body does not produce insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. More than 136 million Americans are living with diabetes (38.4 million) or prediabetes (97.6 million). Hispanic/Latino Americans, African Americans, American Indians, and Alaska Natives as well as some Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans are at higher risk. Diabetes can lead to kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, vision loss, amputations, and other health problems.

“When you eat food that has carbohydrates or sugar, your body uses that to make glucose and provides energy,” explained Melissa Baugh, Registered Dietitian, from Intermountain Health’s Sanpete Valley Hospital. “The glucose is in your blood (blood sugar) and gets taken to your cells. If you have diabetes, the glucose doesn’t get into your cells very well. So there’s all this glucose hanging out in your blood and causes problems.”

There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (diabetes when pregnant).  Type 1 and gestational are often hereditary, but there is a growing trend in type 2 diabetes, which can be prevented.

Type 2 diabetes usually happens in adults, however it is becoming more frequent among younger individuals. “In Type 2 diabetes, the body makes insulin, but in varying levels–it’s trying to deal with the cells not using the glucose well but also may be not able to make enough insulin,” Baugh said.

Prediabetes is a condition in which individuals have high blood glucose levels but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. If untreated, patients have a 50% risk of progressing into needing full diabetes management in approximately 5 years.

“You can totally help your body in decreasing Type 2 diabetes risk!” stated Baugh. “You can either entirely prevent it or delay for a long time.”

Prevention includes making changes in your lifestyle, such as more physical activity and improving dietary intake in support of weight loss. Baugh suggests these tips:

• Activity: Park father than you need to and a walk a bit more. Walk to your neighbor’s house or the post office instead of driving. Go a longer way around the office building. Any amount of physical activity helps, as your muscles don’t need to use insulin!
• Diet options: There are so many possibilities here! This could be using whole grain/whole wheat bread; using vegetables in place of pasta; getting a smaller portion of dessert; having protein with carbohydrates to balance your blood sugar, and many others. You don’t have to do all of these all the time, but it will certainly help your health.
• Request help: Discuss testing for prediabetes/diabetes with your doctor. Ask for help with seeing a dietitian and looking at programs to prevent diabetes.

Intermountain also offers intervention pathways to support you in preventing progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes. “Getting tested by your doctor is a great idea,” said Baugh. “They can give you help and information. It can definitely be scary, but that way you will be well.”

Intermountain Health also has several clinics that specialize in diabetes care. Find one near you by going to www.intermountainhealth.org and searching diabetes.

Additional Resources:

Intermountain Health Diabetes and Endocrinology: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/diabetes-endocrinology/
Diabetes Basics: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/ckr-ext/Dcmnt?ncid=520549524
(Spanish https://intermountainhealthcare.org/ckr-ext/Dcmnt?ncid=521368850)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/about/
American Diabetes Association: https://diabetes.org/

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Healthis a not-for-profit system of 34 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.

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